Experimental evaluation of matrix suction and shear resistance of partially saturated sandy clay

At present, the construction of highways in Andean areas the connect the various most important towns and cities in South America has become has become a key element for its development, since these routes and viaducts allow free access to cover basic needs of education, work, food and health of the population. Much of the land in these areas is clay soils whose behavior is quite unpredictable because they present abrupt volume changes according to the variation of saturation in the soil. People who travel on roads on slopes of this type of soil are at high risk due to the slippage that the slopes suffer each year. The most recent was on April 3, 2020 because of the heavy rainfall that was registered in the area; there was a landslide that affected communication channels in the department of Cajamarca in Peru [1]. In this type of slopes landslides occur when the clayey soil is specifically saturated, because under these conditions the soil is not stable and loses cohesion between its particles, therefore it is important to make slope stability studies taking into account the partially saturated soil. This article presents results of tests allow to recognize the physical characteristics of the clay soil in the province of Chepén in Cajamarca. In addition, the filter paper method is used to elaborate the soil-water characteristic curve and a series of direct shear tests are carried cut at different degrees of saturation. With these results, the partially saturate soil fault surface is constructed that allows visualizing the value of the shear stress of the soil according to the saturation to which it is subjected. This value will be important for calculating the safety factor that the slope floor must have of the resistance shear of the soil according to the saturation, this value will be important for the calculation of the safety factor that the floor of the slope must have so that it does not fall. Therefore, considering this condition of the partially saturated soil in the slope stability analysis provides values of the safety factor that are closer to reality, without the need to carry out the analysis in the most critical condition, such as what it done in classical soil mechanics.